SOUTHEAST US PREMIERE

Shown with Upside Down Tree

In Nazi occupied Albania, Ismail, a poor peasant, is torn between upholding Besa - the national code of honor and protecting his family or saving the two Jewish men he has been hiding for a year, as the Nazis arrive in his village.

Director: Dhimiter Ismailaj-Valona

Dhimitri has directed ten (10) short films so far and written eight (8) of them. His last short comedy “Growing up Fat & Albanian”(2017) has been shown at over 20 film festival, winning 8 Awards so far. “Small Towns” won an Award of Merit in Directing at Southern Shorts Awards,

Director Statement

BESA, is a project inspired by true events that happened over seventy years ago, during WWII in Albania. It’s little known to the world, because Albania was under communist regime for fifty years after the war, and those who could tell the story were cut off from the rest of world during that time, including survivors of the Nazi terror.

As Albanians we are humbled by the action of our grandfathers/grandmothers and fathers/mothers who risked their lives to hide and protect those in need, despite their ethnicity and religious background.

Although the story of rescuing Jews during WWII has been told many times before, and brilliantly so by many filmmakers, this one, in my humble opinion, stands alone because it is the only time that the Jews were saved 100% anywhere in Europe. By the end of the war there were more Jews in Albania than before the war. Many Jews who were persecuted and hunted down in neighborhood countries (Greece, Macedonia, Yugoslavia, etc) fled to Albania to seek shelter and protection. What makes this story even more unique and compelling is the fact that many of the families who risked their own and their family’s lives rescuing and protecting Jews, were of Muslim faith. It is equally important to mention, however, that there were Christian and none believers who also hid and saved Jews as well.

Yet, the rescue mission wasn’t particularly inspired by religious beliefs, but by a set of beliefs known to Albanians as BESA. Besa, a PROMISE, is a sacred word, its meaning has been transmitted orally from generation to generation for millennia and that advocates and promotes justice for all humankind. Besa predates any religious beliefs and has governed the lives of the Albanians ever since. According to Besa, someone’s house belongs to God and the Guest. If someone knocks on your door, any time of the day, any time of the year, and seeks shelter in your home, you are obligated to welcome, protect and honor him to the fullest. The Guest is regarded as a gift from God and therefore is treated as God himself.

It’s this set of beliefs that compelled the Albanians to refuse to hand over to the Nazis lists with names and addresses of Jews living in Albania. On personal and governmental level, Albanians hid their Jewish guests among themselves, providing them with fake IDs that had Muslim or Christian names and dressing them accordingly. And it’s this set of beliefs that inspired the characters of our story to show bravery and do the right thing, when very few people in Europe were doing so.